Every March for the past seven years, Jersey Mike’s a sandwich chain with 1,200 stores nationwide, picks a day to donate all sales to local charities.

As the brand sought to drive foot-traffic for its Day of Giving on March 29, Rich Hope, Jersey Mike’s Chief Marketing Officer, noted Jersey Mike’s relied on a cross-channel approach that ultimately used geotargeting to connect the message of charity to motivate local customers to open its doors (and their wallets).

GeoMarketing: How is Jersey Mike’s getting customers connected to its stores?

Rich Hope: First, it’s important to note that “Giving…making a difference in someone’s life” has been the mission of Jersey Mike’s from the beginning. It starts with our founder, Peter Cancro, who shares the importance of giving back. He inspires the rest of the company. At Jersey Mike’s, the giving is as authentic as our subs. I am continually amazed at the culture of giving throughout the company, not just on the Day of Giving, but every day.

For Day of Giving, we want to raise a lot of money for our partner charities. We have a multi-tiered marketing approach designed to reach our customers, new customers and supporters of the charity. This covers national TV, local digital and social media (geotargeted by market), local radio, our text messaging program and email club.

Is it different than any other promotion? For example, would the chain be targeting people interested in charitable giving who might not be Jersey Mike regulars?

In the case of our Month of Giving, we want to raise money for these great causes and expect that the charities will help spread the word with their supporters. For some of these people, it may be their first interaction with Jersey Mike’s.

The lines at a Jersey Mike’s location during a grand opening fundraiser.

What were the challenges and opportunities associated with promoting visits on a “day” versus a “month” of giving?

This is an annual month-long fundraising program in March called Month of Giving. It culminates with Day of Giving on the last Wednesday of the month. All month-long, we ask our customers to help support our partner charities. They did that in a big way, raising more than $750,000 during the month. Day of Giving is our day to give back. Across the country more than 1,200 locations donated 100 percent of sales to charity.

This year on Day of Giving — that one day — we raised $4.6 million.

Concentrating everything on a single day is a bit nerve wracking as you don’t have control over things like weather, breaking world news, construction, etc. But on the positive side, it creates a centerpiece for the month and creates a groundswell of excitement from our charities and customers. It lets us raise a lot of money and make a difference.

What were the results for the Month of Giving?

For the month, between customer donations and Day of Giving, we raised more than $5.5 million for nearly 150 local charities.